The reduction in size of subassemblies in many areas of electronics requires an ever greater integration density of components both on printed circuit boards and in a housing package. However, the contacting of the contact areas of the semiconductor chip with corresponding contact terminal areas on a wiring board or a leadframe takes up considerable space in the housing package, because wire connections known as bonding connections have to be created between the contact areas and the contact terminal areas.
In the case of a flip-chip connection, although the connecting technique in a housing package by means of external contacts in the form of balls applied to the semiconductor chip is achieved without any wire bonding, because the external contacts can be soldered directly onto a wiring board or onto a leadframe. There is a considerable intermediate space between the semiconductor chip and either the wiring board or a leadframe, which subsequently has to be filled by what is known as underfill, so that, although there is a saving in surface area in comparison with the wire connecting technologies, a relatively complex connecting technique is required between the external contacts of the semiconductor chip and a wiring board or a leadframe.